Drive for amusement rides



H. F. MAYNES DRIVE FOR AMUSEMENT RIDES I May a 3 1927. 1,6271??? Filed July 18. 1925 Z'S heetS Sheet 1 A; ATVTTORNEY v 1,627,192 May 1927' H. F. 'MAYNES DRIVE FOR AMUSEMENT RIDES Filed July 18. 1925 2 sheets-sheet 2 7 F OR I hATToam-zvs CPL Patented May 3, 1927.

I 1,527,192. PATENT OFFICE.

HYLA F. MAYNES, OF NORTH TONAWANDA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO HAYNES COR- PORATION, OF DOVER, DELAWARE, A-CORPORATION OF DELAWARE. I

DRIVE FOR,AMUSEMENT RIDES.

7 Application filed July 18 1925. Serial No. 44,589.

This invention relates to amusement rides and in particular to a novel drive for a round-about or other rotary rideil In-my PatentNo. 1,501,613 I have, illustrated and describeda rotary amusement ride comprising a seres of horizontal radial sweeps rot atable about a central fixed axis and sup ported at their outer'ends by means of wheels journalled on the sweeps which run upon a circular and undulating trackway. The inner ends of these radial sweeps are pivotally mounted upon a rotatable hub or spider to permit of swinging in a vertical plane asthe ride follows the undulations, and their outer ends are connected by means of pivoted links which hold the sweepsxin spaced relation. Mounted upon these links are passengercarrying cars. The ride is rotated by means of a cable which encircles the ride and makes contact therewith through a series of cable guide blocks secured to the lower sides of the swee s. It is the object of the presentinvention to devise an improved drive 'for rides of this general character. 7

In accordance with the present invention I mount upon certain of the sweeps, near their outer ends, electric motors which, through the necessary transmission gearing, drive the supporting wheels of the sweeps which are journalled coaxially thereon. These motors, when fixed directly to the sweeps, exert a continuous torque of considerable magnitude upon them and place a strain on the pivot pinsat the inner ends of the sweeps. It is possible so to construct the ride that this strain has'no serious consequence. I prefer, however, to mount the motors loosely relative to the sweeps and secure them to one of the connecting links to take the torsional strain. Thus no torsional strain is placed upon the sweeps themselves and as the sweeps move up and down along the undulations the motors are free to oscillate slightly about their supports.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention. In these drawings Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a rotary ride equipped with a drive of the present invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical radialsection taken through the ride; Figure 3 is a detail showing a method of mounting the motors and the supporting wheels on the ends of the sweeps, and Figure 4 is an elevation taken along line 4 l of Figure 2 showing a section of the undulatingtrack- 7 way and the manner in which motors are secured to the links or spacing elements.

H o lhe merry-go-round ride ShOWn lIl these drawingscomprises a central stand pipe 1 fixedly mounted upon a suitable base or standard 2 and acting as a pivot or axisfor the ride; Upon this stand pipe is fixed a thrust bearing 3 upon which rotates asweepspider 4 to which are pivotally connected for swinging movement in a vertical plane a series of radial sweeps 5. Pivoted to the outer ends of these sweeps is a train of cars 6, each car being supportedupon two links or spacing elements 7 between two sweeps as clearly shown. At the outer end of each sweep is mounted a wheel 8 running upon an undulatlng trackway 9, these wheels sup porting the weight of the cars. As'illustrated in Figure 3 each of these wheels 8 is Journalled upon a bearing on the end of a spindle 10 which extends within the hollow outer end of a sweep and is secured in position by means of pins 11. Beyond this trackway is situated a loading platform 12 which follows the undulations on the trackway and encircles the ride. Both trackway and platform are supported upon suitable standards 13 and heldin place relative to the central stand. pipe by means of tie rods 14.

I shall now describe the novel drive of the present invention' Near the outer end of each third sweep a sleeve 15 is loosely journalled and onthis sleeve is mounted an elec- 21 concentric with the stand'pipe 1 which collector rings in turn receive current through spring-pressed brushes 22. current to the ride is controlled by the operator by means of an outside switch not shown.

The ride illustrated operates as follows:

The

The passengers having been seated, within the cars the current is thrown on and the driving wheels 8 rotated by means of the motors 16. The tendency ofthe motors to swing due to the driving resistance of the ride, particularly when starting from rest, is counteracted by the bars 17 which transmit the push or pulldirectly to the links 7. The sweeps are then freed of any torsional strain. As the ride passes over the undulations and the-sweeps rise and fall, each motor, held in rigid connection with a link 7 oscillates slightly about its sweep.

I claim: i

1. An amusement ride comprising the combination of a central pivot, a plurality of radial sweeps designed to rotate about the pivot, wheels, on the sweeps, a circular trackway upon which the wheels run, links be ween' h swe p and ni ally connected thereto, a driving motor carried by a sweep but loosely connected thereto and a rigid connection between the motor and a link.

2. An amusement ride comprising the combination of a central pivot, a plurality of radial sweeps designed to rotate about the pivot, supporting wheels on the sweeps, circular undulating trackway upon which the wheels run, links between the sweeps and pivotally connected thereto, a driving motor pivotally mounted on a sweep, trans mission gearing between the motor and the supporting wheel, and means connecting the motor with a link for taking up the torsional driving strain. r

In testimony whereof I afiix my si nature.

HYLA F. MAY NES. 

